Gyroscopic compass



G. A. ROSSITER.

GYROSCOPIC COMPASS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. 1920.

Patented May 17, 1921i 3mm... ff QM construction and combinations ,of parts` UNITED STATES 5 GEORGE A. aossrrnn, or BROOKLYN, 'NEWvoisin` non 'ro scorre CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N, Y., `Lge rorfxrron; Ore-,m You.,

Y' anoscoric courses To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known thatI, GEORGE A. Rossrrnn, a citizen of the United States, residin at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and tate of New York, have invented certain new land useful Improvements in Gryroscopicv Compasses; and I: do hereby declare the following'to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable Others skilledjvin the art to which it appertains to make?. and use vthe same.

his invention relates to gyroscopic compasses and has for lits object to improve the relations of parts that have been heretofore provided.

With this and other obiects in view, the

invention consists infthe lnovel details of more fully4 hereinafter disclosed and particularly' pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanyin drawings forming a part Of` this vspeci cation, in

which like numerals designate likeparts in all the views Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view looking in a direction parallel to the rotative' axis of a gyro compass with `my invenva ortion of the tion applied thereto; and x Fig. 2 is a` view, partially in section, of parts shown in Fig. 1, loo 'ng -in'a direction perpendicular to the ring, 3 the innerfC'ardan. ring, 4. a supporting frame locatedv inside-the'rng', 5- the compass card, 6- the lfollow:V upv the :follow up motor, 8 the ollowl up or shadow ring, 9 the 'vertical ring, 10 the wheel casing,'11 the pivots therefor, and 12 the horizontal frotat1ve axle of the. o-A

scopic wheel not shown. All the foregoing parts', are or may be, ofthe same construction and Operation as are the corresponding members disclosed :in my prior Patent 1#1311716, for gyroscopic compass, dated uly 29, .1919, and also disclosed in my coendng application, Serial Number 275805, led February 8, 1919, for gyroscopic compasses. f

one of its degrees gf freedom partially sup*- pressed. This is sometimes accomplished by' mounting-the gyro wheel with three despecmeauon ruiters retest.' i

"through the horizontal trunnions.

Atered 1 an d now appeal-.j l; ar wheel, .7A

hung `planes makin grecs of freedom, and then applying. a weight to the lhorizontal axis assing ut in such cases, it is evident whenone or the other of said trunnions is raised thel center of (gravity lof said-weight will also be raised an moved out of the vertical planeof the 'rotative or wheel axis, with the result that compass errorsy will arise, all as explained in my said application above mentioned. In said application these errors were corrected by making the weight in the form of a mercury tube, so that the center of gravity of the mercury would notl move out of said vertical plane. It is equally well known that 'when a gyro compass with two degrees of freedom is subjectto the disturbing ac- 'tions of heavy seas, a number of other complex forces are generated which disturb the correct indications of the card or north pointin axis and the stabilizing gyros let- 101 in my said patent above fratentedmay 17.14921. I Ayppnoation led February `9, .1920, Y l

noted are provided .to prevent the/igeneration of sai forces in kthe first instance and to'thus preserve a steady support for the wheel closely simulating, in heavy seas, the conditions found on land.

The construction of this invention provides a pendulous mass to suppress one of the degrees of freedom g of the wheel, and said mass is provided with stabilizin gyros so that its center of 'gravity cannot e displaced from the vertical plane ,and thus Yas cause the/above., mentioned 'errors all as will That is to sa. ,113 represents a ball bearing surrounding-'each end of the axis 12, `and 14 represents ringls)k or straps supported by said ball bearing'. epending from said rings 14 are the side members 15, each provided with the loop members 16, and joining said loop members inthe s ace 17 between the casing 10 and vertical ring 9, is the bar or weight 18, so that the whole constitutes a pendulum from the rotative axis as a center, all as will be clear from the drawings.

-In the loops 16 there are pivoted the small gyros 20 and 21 respectively on the vertically disposed axes 22 and 23, and said gyros 20 and 21 are so disposed in their bearings that their respective rotative axes 24 and25 .are opposed to each other, and lie in vertical opposmgvangles of say 45 Ywith this compass.

that my pendulous weight acts to suppress in their predetermined positions, each is rovided with a pair of springs 30,I (see ig. l), so should any temporary disturbing force tend to move the gyro Wheel out of its predetermined plane, one or the other of said springs will be subjected to tension and will restore said wheel to its normal position when said force ceases to act.

The operation of this improved stabilized Weighting means is as follows The weight of the two small gyros 20 and 21 constitute a considerable portion of the total weight controlling the main gyro Wheel of the compass; and said small gyros in additlon are possessed of directive forces themselves, which tend under the relative action. of the earth to cause their own rotative axes 24 and 25 to point north and south. Accordingly, their axes Will tend to become displaced and will tend to orient in the same manner as does the main Wheel. But as said axes 24 and 25 oppose each other, when they have oriented to the same number of degrees `from the plane of the meridian, their yforces exerted on their bearings and on .the main axis Will'exactly neutralize each other. That this is true will be evident if we suppose the main axis 12 to be meridian and that one axis 24 is pointing east of the meridian while the other 25 is pointing west of the meridian. In fact, said gyros 20 'and 21 constitute in themselves a sort of self corrective compass, while they also -orm a. material part of a stabilized pendulum controlling the main directive Wheel.'

In other words, these said gyros 20 and 21 may be said to act in a manner similar to the stabilizin gyros 100 and 101 in my said Patent #1311716, and also in a manner similar to the pendulous mass, in my said application.

` In addition to these it is desirable tonse a means of dam theorientations of the main wheel. dampening means is not illustrated in this case, but a suitable form of such means is :found in my said application above mentioned. Y

The stabilizing gyroslOO and 101 of my said former patent may also be employed It willv thus be clear one of the degrees of freedom of the directive axis 12 of the main gyro wheelz while Vthe smaller gyros 20 and 21, stabilize the said pendulous weight-in heavy seas, and act to Vprev'ent its center of vity from" leavingthe vertical plane of saidaxis 12.

Stated in stillother language, as vwill be clear g from my Said application above, the disturbing. -forces due -to the rolling .and pitching movements of a vessel p a pendulous weightnot provided with gyro as to cause it to in the plane of the said gyros 210 and 21,

uch a means carried by said weight for ,the center of gravity will act upon i begin to oscillate and to tend to aline itself according to its moments of inertia which produce errors 1n the compass as a Whole.

stantially in the vertical plane including the directive axis 12 of the main gyro Wheel, and the gravity couples causing the above mentioned errors are not permitted to be created. i

It is obvious thatl those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a gyro compass provided with a directive axis; a pendulum pivoted from said axis as a center; and a gyroscopic device carried by and forming a part of the weight of said ndulum, substantially as described.

2. Iii a gyro compass provided with a directive axis; a pendulum pivoted from said axis as a center; and a plurality of gyroscopic devices carried by and forming a part of the weight of said pendulum, substantially as described.

rective axis; a pendulum pivoted from said axis as a center; and a pair of oscopic devices having axes pointing in di erent directions carried by and forming a part of the weight of said pendulum, substantially as described.

4. In a gyro compass the combination of a directive axis; a pendulum associated with said axis; and a pair of gyroscopic devices associated with said pendulum and adapted to orientate in opposite directions, substantially as described. e

5. Ina gyro compass the combination of a directive axis; a pendulum associated with said axis; a pair of gyroscopic devices pivotally associated with said pendulum and adapted to orientate in o posite directions; and sprin associated with said pic devices a apted to yieldingly maintain the latter in their normal positions, substantially as described.

6.- Ina gyi'o compass provided with a directilvle axis the combination offa idulous we' t acting to suppress one o e e ees of lreedom of said axis; and gyrostrpic of said weight in the verticalane .of said axis, substantially as descri 7. In a gyro compass the combination of a directive element having a rotative axis and mounted for movement about a. horizonstabilizing i tal axis .at a substantial angle to said rota-l tive axis; pendulous means mounted forl movement relative to said element only about said rotative axis and adapted to partially suppress movement of said element about said horizontal axis to-produce orientation thereof; and a gyroscopic stabilizing means carried by said pendulous means and mounted with its rotative axis at an acute angle to the rotative axis of said directive element, substantially as described.

8. In a gyro compass the combination of a directive element having a rotative axis and mounted for movement about a horizontal axis at a substantial angle to said .rotative axis; pendulous means mounted for movement relative to said element only about said rotative axis; and adapted to partially suppress movement of said element about said horizontal. axis to produce orientation thereof and a plurality of gyroscopic stabilizing means carried by said pendulous means and mounted with their rotative axes forming a substantial angle to each other and to the rotative axis of said directive element, substantially as described. In testimon whereof I aiX mg silgxiature.

S ER

EORGE A. RO 

